Bay Area Rapid Transit opens extension to Fremont

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) on Saturday opened its 5.4-mile Warm Springs extension to Fremont, Calif.

The project came in more than $100 million under the original $890 million budget, BART officials said in a press release.

The extension's new Fremont station features more than 2,000 parking spots, including 42 solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations.

Solar panels installed on the station's roof and several parking canopies are expected to produce more than enough energy to meet the station's daytime power needs, BART officials said.

"The new station and 5.4 miles of new track will be a difference-maker in addressing the gridlock on interstates 880 and 680 by taking thousands of cars off the road each day," said Tom Blalock, a BART board director. "We're also helping people reduce their carbon footprint by making the station fully accessible to pedestrians, bus riders and bike riders."

The station is located near automaker Tesla's manufacturing plant. The company has recently announced plans to roughly double its footprint in Fremont.

The Warm Springs extension paves the way for BART's 10-mile extension to Silicon Valley, BART officials said. The latter project is under construction and is expected to open for service later this year.